and Exalted is He: “You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help.” That is, we worship You and worship no one besides You, and we seek Your help and the help of no one besides You.

Allah Most High says: “Know, then, that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah” 1, and He says: “Except those who testify to the truth knowingly.” 2 The Quran commentators said: “Except those who testify that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah.” “Knowingly” means that they know the meaning of the testimony they bear in their hearts and utter with their tongues.

It is authentically reported in Sahīh Muslim from Uthmān ibn Affān—may Allah be pleased with him—that the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—said: “Whoever dies knowing that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah will enter Paradise.”3 Thus, he—peace and blessings be upon him—stipulated knowledge as a condition.

— The second condition is certainty, which excludes doubt and misgiving. The person uttering this testimony must be firmly certain of it, without any doubt or misgiving. Certainty is knowledge in its fullest and most complete form. Allah Most High says in describing the believers: “The believers are only those who believe in Allah and His Messenger, then entertain no doubt, and strive with their wealth and their lives in the cause of Allah. It is they who are truthful.” 4 His words, “then entertain no doubt,” mean that they are certain and do not doubt.

It is authentically reported in Sahīh Muslim from Abū Hurayra—may Allah be pleased with him—that the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—said: “I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah. No servant meets Allah with these two testimonies, harboring no doubt about them, except that he will enter Paradise.”5